Mitch Miller died July 31, 2010 in Manhattan at the age of 99. The New York Times described him as "an influential record producer who became a hugely popular recording artist and an unlikely television star a half century ago by leading a choral group in familiar old songs and inviting people to sing along." In 1947, Miller joined the Mercury Records label as a classical producer. The first album he produced, the Fine Arts Quartet recording of Schubert’s "Death and the Maiden" Quartet, won France's Grand Prix du Disque.